BOX SCORE (PDF)
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Samford women's basketball team dropped an 80-59 decision at Iowa Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
In the loss, Samford was led by Hannah Nichols and Olivia Crozier with 14 points each. Cassidy Williams followed with 11 points. Charity Brown led the team with six rebounds and six assists.
For Iowa, Megan Gustafson led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Hannah Stewart had 17 points, while Kathleen Doyle added 14 points for the Hawkeyes.
After trading baskets early in the first quarter, Iowa went on a 9-2 run to take a 15-8 lead with 15:10 left in the opening period after a layup by Stewart. After a Nichols layup cut the lead to 15-10, the Hawkeyes closed the period with a 9-3 run to hold a 24-13 lead at the close of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Samford fought back to cut the lead to seven points at 29-22 following a jumper by Crozier with 5:51 to go in the quarter. Iowa pushed the lead back out to 12 points at 38-26 with 1:02 to go before halftime after a layup by Gustafson. A late layup by Williams cut the lead to 38-28 heading into the locker room at halftime.
Samford cut the Iowa lead to just five points at 42-37 with 7:58 left in the third quarter after a three-pointer by Crozier. Iowa pushed the lead back out to 10 at 53-43 with 5:13 remaining in the period. After a Nichols layup cut the lead to eight at 53-45, Iowa closed the third quarter with a 10-2 run to take a 63-47 lead into the fourth quarter.
Iowa was able to continue to pull away in the fourth quarter. The Hawkeyes led by as many as 28 points in the period at 79-51 with 2:46 to play. Samford scored eight of the last nine points of the game to make the final score 80-59.
As a team, Iowa shot 53.6 percent from the floor, while Samford made 37.5 percent of its shots. Iowa won the rebounding battle, 43-28.
Samford falls to 3-5 with the loss, while Iowa improves to 8-1. The Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday, Dec. 7, when Samford plays at cross-town rival UAB. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from UAB's Bartow Arena.
